Salmonella in flavor ingredient processed in North Las Vegas prompts recall

A wide range of processed foods -- including soups, snack foods, dips and dressings -- is being recalled after salmonella was discovered in a flavor- enhancing ingredient manufactured by North Las Vegas-based Basic Food Flavors.

Food and Drug Administration officials said Thursday that the ingredient, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, is used to enhance the flavor of thousands of food products, though it was unclear how many of them will be recalled. The FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said no illnesses or deaths have been reported.

The officials said the recall, which dates to products manufactured since Sept. 17, is expected to expand in the coming days and weeks. Company President Kanu Patel was said to be in a meeting with the other owners of the privately held Basic Food and did not return calls requesting comment on Thursday.

The agency said Thursday it collected and analyzed samples at the North Las Vegas facility after one of the company's customers discovered the salmonella, an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children and others with weakened immune systems. The FDA then confirmed the presence of a strain of salmonella in the company's processing equipment.

Basic Food moved to the valley 20 years ago and has expanded several times since. Last year, it added a production line and associated equipment meant to provide "our customers with the security of knowing their HVP will not be in short supply," according to the company's Web site. It is not know if this played a role in the recall.

The company does not disclose financial information or its employee count. The catalog now includes more than 150 products sold across the world, mainly beef, chicken and pork flavors that wind up in products ranging from tortilla soup mix to spinach veggie dip.

The company started in 1980 making soy concentrates and food flavor that were shipped mainly to Asia. Its original home was in the Los Angeles area to be near the port.

But it was featured in a Forbes magazine article in 1990 because of its frustrations with the regulatory regime in California as it tried to expand. This led to the move to North Las Vegas.

Although the FDA held a news conference on the recall Thursday, the recalls have been occurring product by product. For example, Johnny's Fine Foods issued a recall for its French Dip Powdered Au Jus on Feb. 26.

Jeffrey Farrar, associate commissioner for food protection at the FDA, said Thursday that many products that contain the ingredient are not dangerous because the risk of salmonella is eliminated after the food has been cooked. Many of the foods involved in the recall are ready-to-eat items that are not cooked by the consumer.

"At this time we believe the risk to consumers is very low," Farrar said.

A list of more than 50 recalled foods on the FDA Web site includes several dips manufactured by T. Marzetti, Sweet Maui Onion potato chips manufactured by Tim's Cascade Snacks, Tortilla Soup mix made by Homemade Gourmet and several prepackaged "Follow Your Heart" tofu meals manufactured by Earth Island.

The FDA said the contamination was discovered by a new tracking system implemented to improve tracing of foodborne illnesses.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.